Often, environmental challenges seem too intractable and too big to even approach, but when it comes to pollution, there is good reason to stay positive. Santiago, Chile and Bangkok, Thailand serve as...

An innovative new grant program for fighting forest loss is putting project design and funding decisions in the hands of indigenous peoples and local communities and giving them the power to set priorities...

Washington, D.C.—Forests and trees provide many economic, social and environmental services and values, from creating jobs to providing housing, food and energy to delivering carbon sequestration and watershed...

The die is cast. If we do not act now, rising temperatures will endanger crops, freshwater reserves, energy security and even our health. We talked to World Bank environmental specialist Daniel Mira-Salama...

If you lived in an arid place, what do you think would be the most coveted and expensive resource? Whether or not you live in a desert, water is one of the most valuable elements for humanity. However,...

When you hear about deadly air pollution, your mind is likely to turn to smog filled cityscapes and congested highways. Cities in India and China have become iconic for air pollution challenges and the...

Have you heard about white willow? Probably not, but that plant is the source of the main ingredient of a medication that you are surely familiar with: aspirin. The ancient Greeks were the first to use...

The technology that enables us to receive signals from space has advanced by leaps and bounds since the launch of the first satellite, Sputnik, just a few decades ago. Today, in addition to photographing...

Local communities are among a forest’s most important stewards, and giving them a voice is one of the most powerful ways to protect forests. For indigenous and forest-dependent peoples, forests mean food,...

In the Andes of South America and across the mountains of Central Asia, the glaciers are receding. As temperatures continue to warm, their melting will bring more water to farms and cities earlier in the...

Working with the Global Environment Facility, the World Bank helped the Brazilian Government implement a series of protected areas that have reversed deforestation in the Amazon and returned benefits to...

Brazil, Latin America’s greenest country, faces a paradox in that much more flora is in danger of extinction than originally thought, with potentially devastating consequences for the environment and society.A...

Is there anything “greener” or more idyllic than fields of crops? Today, some two-fifths of the Earth’s surface is used for agriculture due to the explosion of the global population and economic growth....

One in nine people suffer from chronic hunger, more than 1 billion people are undernourished, and 3.1 million children die every year due to hunger and malnutrition. Hunger affects poor people the most—both...

The days are getting longer, the trees are in leaf and the parks are filling up - spring is arriving in South America. But as pleasant as it is to say goodbye to winter for another year, the changing season...

How much do the emissions coming from your car’s exhaust pipe cost in terms of damage to the environment? What about the gases that factories emit? Smog can be seen – and felt—in places like Beijing and...

The Matanza-Riachuelo River flows for approximately 64 kilometers, from the birthplace of dulce de leche, also known as the District of La Matanza, to the shores of La Boca. Although La Boca is a well-known...

Now a US$ 213 billion industry, environment and natural resource crimes such as poaching, illegal logging and wildlife trafficking are growing every year and putting natural resources at risk. This is...

Illuminating homes with solid waste, running engines on manure and sun and using bus rapid transit to protect crops? Although it sounds outrageous, these are some simple yet effective solutions to reduce...